Introduction – Tree of Women in Shadowland, Majestic

Women living on the fringes of society – viewed as criminal / outsiders / dangerous / objects of revulsion perceive the street differently from how others do. Street to them is not merely a conduit to reach a destination – it is a space that informs their life worlds. The law, the gangs, the crowds, the traffic, the commercial areas, the railway and bus depots – all are elements of their daily strategies of existence on the street. The street is the space where they dream, work, live and negotiate with changing challenges of earning on the street.

Development policies and Infrastructure projects of an indifferent State affect women adversely – these are not mere inconveniences that will emerge into better ways of using the street – for them, these represent invasive ideas that uproot and demolish their lives and drive them to search for new spaces. The women have seen many changes over the years – in the shape and nature of the street, the attitude of the people, the legal impact of the changes on their lives.

The meeting is a part of the Marmara series – to invite and discuss together, what women envision as necessary changes to make their lives better.

The discussion focussed on the Street as it was – good, bad and the ugly aspects – physical space, infrastructure, footpaths, people, law, support systems…… Street that is – good, bad and the ugly…. Street as we would like it to be….

About 60 participants attended the discussion including women in street sex work, women street vendors, parking lot attendants and women living in the street and people / organizations supporting them

Organisations that participated: Sadhana Mahila Sangha; Swathi Mahila Sangha; Bhoruka Charitable Trust; Street Vendors; Jansahayog; Swasti and Vimochana

Several women who have worked on the street for over 10 years held that disappearing roadside shady trees, footpaths had contributed largely to the street becoming an unfriendly space to work from. Women in sex work said trees shielded them from negative attention from police, goondas etc and now, the only recourse to escaping the harassment from these elements is to run away – several women have had accidents from passing vehicles while being pursued by the constables wielding lathis.

Some women sitting around, speak:

Meena – Old shops, trees are all gone – there is no protection from sun or rain – they claim that Bangalore will be a Singapore – is this how Singapore looks?

Ratna – The old traders and shops have given way to new shops catering to tourists and the new shop keepers are hostile to us – and have joined with the police in harassing us. All they want is to present a “clean” street – removing people like us because we are “trash”. We are seen as women without any dignity and therefore can be abused verbally or physically by anyone.

Sumathi and Geetha – Metro work, fly over and other constructions such as overhead bridges, road widening etc have left no place for street vendors, sex workers and other women who have been earning their livelihood on the street and added to this, it is difficult to find any place to rest. Traffic has increased so much that the police are unable to control.

Salma – The goondas, traffickers, extortionists have no difficulty and are functioning as always – it is only the poor women who are facing the difficulty. For sex workers, there are no places to take clients to as lodges have been closed. We are aware of the law and know that we cannot pick clients at temples, schools, hospitals etc and also know that young girls should not be forced into sex work – we are not doing any of this and still, are treated as criminals. Police tell us to do other work like domestic work or garment industry work – do they realize that most of us have landed on the street after facing sexual / physical abuse in the so called “respectable” work areas? With new phones / cameras, it is common for people to take our videos / photos or sell pornographic mms on the street – why is there no action against them? It is true that the number of women in street sex work is increasing – no one worries about why are women landing here, they only want to remove us, how are we to live and what shall we feed our children?

Rupa – Police respond immediately to even the most minor complaints against us – why do they not want even to take a complaint from us against rowdies or partners or people who harass us? Are we not public too? On the other hand, there are policemen and officers who also abuse us physically / verbally and even sexually. If we complain they start chasing us out of the area claiming we are illegal and that they have orders from “top”. We are beaten and arrested under police rules as “public nuisance” – Police extract fines from 200 – 500 from us on this pretext without any receipt. Who gets this money? We have complained to State Human Rights Committee – who has asked DGP of the State to see that we are not violated by the police – but the police continue to harass on the street, claiming impunity. Who do we go to for justice?

Several women claimed that they were sex workers and not criminals. Even if a single woman is involved in a robbery (taking away client’s money forcibly without any service) the backlash from the police is on all women. There are so many cases of pickpockets and other crimes by men – why are not all men working on the street treated as criminals? The Police keep telling us to leave the area – this is the railway station / market area, where else should we go to find clients? Even if we do go to another locality – what is the guarantee that we will not be thrown out of there also – since we are seen as the ugly face of this great city?

Manju is a woman who has four children and lives on the street – she has left sex work due to ill health and started a small business of selling fruits on the street. She told of how she was continuously harassed by beat policemen and has been chased from her selling place on the street - all this, along with abuses of her being a sex worker and an immoral woman etc. She asks – I have a cardiac problem and even showed the police this but they continued to beat me and chase me. Do sex workers have no right to take up other means of earning without being accused of immorality? Why then do they ask us to leave sex work, when they continue to harass women who have left sex work?

What emerged from the murmurings of the women are

• Even the Supreme Court in a 2013 case has asked States to see that human rights of sex workers are protected. The State must act immediately to see that women on the street are not physically / sexually abused by the police. Complaints of cheating, violence by others to sex workers including transgender women must be attended to as of any citizen.
• The law mandates the State to create opportunities for sex workers to take up other livelihood options but rehabilitation concept of the State is unpractical and does little to motivate women to take up the options under programs such as Ujjwala or Swadhar Schemes. These schemes do not address core issues of continued stigma or non availability of adequate living income under the schemes.
• Sex workers, homeless women have difficulty in producing address proof as they are compelled to shift frequently, making it impossible for them to avail of the health facilities and entitlements offered by the State. There must be a single-window system to provide entitlements to these women with minimum procedures and checks.
• There are several organizations of sex workers in the City and also organizations that support sex worker rights. They need to come together on a common network to address issues of backlash, police / goonda brutality, and social exclusion

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